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Beltane: Origins and CelebrationBeltane is a Gaelic (Irish and Scottish) fire festival celebrating summers’ arrival, held on the first of May. It is one of the four major Gaelic fire festivals along with Imbolc, Lughnasagh, and Samhain. The Gaelic fire festivals are also four of the eight major Wiccan holidays on the Wheel of the Year. Themes of this holiday include fertility, abundance, passion, and rebirth. Associated deities and symbolism of modern-day Beltane include The Maiden, especially Bride (“Angus and Bride [Brigid]”, Scottish maiden form of Brigid), the Horned God/Green Man (Herne the Hunter, Arawn, Cernnunos), Maypoles, green and flowering plants, local wildlife (i.e., bunnies, deer, etc.), and, of course, fire. However, what we now know as Beltane today looked quite different from that of early Beltane celebrations.
Meaning “Bright Fire”, this holiday is in reference to the Celtic God Belanus (Etymology: “Bel” – bright one, “teine” – fire). This deity was a god of healing, light, health, fountains/healing springs, wheels, and cattle. For reference, similar deities in other cultures include Apollo (Greece) and Lugh (Ireland), but there are many strong ties to Apollo. He is depicted usually as pulling the sun across the sky in his horse-drawn chariot. As Belanus was historically worshipped by the Gauls (continental Western Europe), there was some significant cross-over with Apollo, and Belenus was one of the Epithets of Apollo (“Apollo Belenus”).
Beltane originates from when the Celts were still a pastoral people. The most popular tradition was to light the Beltane fires in early May, sometimes by building a communal fire. Members of the community would extinguish their hearth fires, then come together to build a communal fire (typically with friction). The cattle would be driven around the fire in procession style from cattle to swine, to cleanse/purify/bless the animals. This was the primary function of the festival, as cattle was traditionally being moved from their winter quarters to green pastures for grazing. The main purpose for this festival was to recall the power of the growing sun as well as purify and cleanse the dark and dreary energies of the winter. The home hearths would then be relit using the communal fire – some people chose to dance around the flames as well. Later in the Scottish tradition included the baking of Beltane Bannocks (oat cake with animal fat) over the fire.
While Beltane is the most popular tradition celebrated in Modern popular Paganism, other traditions have similar holidays celebrated around the same time and have most likely contributed to our modern festivities.
We cannot deny the influences of Roman culture on this holiday (like most of our knowledge of pre-Roman Britain). Floralia is a Roman holiday celebrated from late April into early May, starting on April 27th/28th and lasts for about six days. The holiday is in honor of the Roman goddess Flora, which included games, festivities, theatrical performances, and the donning of flowers/flowering plants and multi-colored clothes in her honor.
The Welsh holiday of Calan Mai (“first day of May”) or Calan Haf (“first day of Summer”) is celebrated on – you guessed it – May 1st! On Nos Galan, the night before Calan Mai, it was believed that the veil was at its thinnest, so divination and spirit work were extremely common. This is because this is one of the three “ysbrydnos” – Spirit Nights – the other two being St John’s Eve on June 24th, and Calan Gaeaf on October 31st, (essentially Welsh Halloween, Samhain). One of the most famous things we see in modern Beltane that is strongly associated with Calan Mai is the Maypole.
Walpurgis Night is also another example of a holiday variation. St. Walpurga was a Christian missionary from Devon, England that grew up in an Anglo-Saxon household. Her evangelism and founding of a double monastery in Heidenheim helped converted the natives from their original ‘heathen’ beliefs. She was canonized on May 1st in 870 and became one of the most popular saints in England, Germany, and France. Many of the festivities on this day mirror that of modern Beltane celebrations.
Essentially, Beltane – just like paganism as a whole – is a patchwork of various traditions, practices, and beliefs that have come together to become what we know it as today. There are so many ways to celebrate, and there are various traditions and holidays that encompass this time of year. No matter how you choose to celebrate, there’s so much energy here and now in this sacred time of summer’s start ?
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